Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Has YouTube revived the art of ventriloquism?

Back in September, I blogged about America’s top ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham (and one of his puppets, a jive-talkin’ black pimp named Sweet Daddy Dee, which has been seen 9 million times on YouTube).

You might think being “America’s top ventriloquist” is sorta like being “America’s top duckpin bowler.” Nobody cares! But check this out: Jeff Dunham had a Christmas special on Comedy Central Sunday night.

And it was the most-watched show in the history of Comedy Central... with 6.6 million viewers. Which means that damn-near everybody in Hollywood wants to be in the Jeff Dunham business right now.

The Comedy Central executives didn’t even see that coming.

It’s all about teh YouTube.

Embedded below is an 11-minute clip of Dunham with another one of his politically incorrect puppets... Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

You might not believe this – it sure shocked the hell out of me – but this clip here, y’all... this clip right here, y’all... this clip has been watched 73 million times. It is the No. 1 most-viewed entertainment clip on YouTube ever. It is the No. 2 “top favorited” YouTube clip of all times!

That’s bananas! And it just goes to show you: Sooner or later, everything comes back in style.

I like this guy, ventriloquism is one of the lost arts we have. Dunham is a very talented man. Nobody cares, because America form of entertainment is one of these reality shows, you know, we have been 'dumbed down'. Thanks for pulling this up.

Many (MANY!) years ago, some old friends of mine used to quote Dunham's sketches frequently--they loved him. A few of my friends now love him, too. I'm kinda meh on the stuff of his I've seen, though I'll still pull "on a steeeck" out every so often.